Hand puppets often include a mouth opening having a flexible mouth member which may be manipulated by a hand inserted through the back of the puppet's head. In this manner the mouth may be opened and closed, and otherwise manipulated to simulate talking and facial expressions.
In the past, puppet mouth openings are usually closed by flexible fabric, and such fabric does not have sufficient body and rigidity to effectively hold the shape of a mouth and define a tongue, teeth or other features normally found in the mouth. Also, previous puppet mouth constructions have difficulty in producing a manipulative mouth which is capable of maintaining a constant smiling appearance.
It is an object of the invention to provide a puppet mouth construction and the method of forming the same, wherein the puppet mouth is of a semi-rigid construction yet is easily manipulated by the operator's hand.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a puppet mouth of a semi-rigid construction which may be readily hand manipulated and which includes lip regions and inner mouth regions readily defined by different colored fabrics as to produce an attractive contrast adjacent the mouth opening.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a manipulative mouth construction for a hand puppet wherein the mouth is of a semi-rigid form capable of maintaining a constant puppet facial expression, and wherein, the mouth will normally assume an open condition when not in use.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a manipulative puppet mouth construction wherein lip regions are clearly defined, which may be readily assembled and maintained within the puppet mouth opening, and which is economical to manufacture and install.
In the practice of the invention a pair of semi-rigid pieces of base material, such as cardboard, are placed upon superimposed layers of contrasting fabric, such as red and black flannel, the red flannel being disposed adjacent the cardboard material. The cardboard base material includes a lip region periphery, usually a circular segment, and the remainder of the peripheral region substantially defines a linear diameter of the peripheral lip configuration.
The fabric layers are sewn to the base material adjacent the lip peripheral region, and the layers are trimmed adjacent the base material lip region and the inner linear periphery. Thereupon, the black fabric is slit from its inner linear edge to approximately, but short of, the base material peripheral lip region. Several slits are utilized. Thereupon, the black fabric portions are pulled over the base material lip region periphery to form a bead, and the bead is sewn to the base material to maintain the "pulled over" relationship of the black fabric to the lip region. The extraneous black material is then removed.
The two identical base material pieces so constructed are then placed in aligned superimposed relationship with the red flannel layers contiguous, as are the beads defined at the lip regions, and a hinge line is defined by a sewn seam slightly spaced inwardly of the inner linear base material edge, and substantially parallel thereto.
The resultant mouth assembly is then glued within the puppet mouth opening which includes mouth plates sewn to the fabric of the puppet face adjacent the mouth opening, and the mouth assembly is so positioned that the beads overlap the puppet face fabric adjacent the mouth opening to define lips of contrasting color and the mouth assembly completely closes the puppet mouth opening.
Upon the user inserting a hand within the puppet's head the fingers may be placed upon the upper mouth plate, while the thumb engages the lower plate and in this manner the mouth assembly may be opened and closed to simulate mouth movement during talking.